Extract text from Amazon Ion files (ION)
To convert ION data files to another format, you need Amazon Ion CLI or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Data Serialization File" file type, you need software like Amazon Ion CLI or a similar tool.
The .ION file format serves two distinct purposes in the tech ecosystem. Most commonly, it is an Amazon Ion file, a strongly-typed, hierarchical data serialization format created by Amazon. It is heavily utilized within AWS services like Amazon QLDB and supports both text and fast-parsing binary forms. Alternatively, it is known as a descript.ion file - a legacy plain-text format introduced by 4DOS and still used by file managers like Total Commander to store hidden user comments for files within a specific directory.
Working with .ION files presents real-world challenges. Binary Amazon Ion files are unreadable in standard text editors and require specific AWS libraries or the Amazon Ion CLI to decode. This creates vendor lock-in, making the format incompatible with general-purpose web APIs, standard data analysis tools, or third-party platforms. On the other hand, descript.ion files are extremely fragile; because the Windows operating system does not natively recognize them, moving files with standard tools often breaks the link to the comments, leading to lost metadata.
To make your data usable, conversion is highly recommended. For Amazon Ion data, convert to JSON or XML for seamless integration with web services and standard development workflows. If you need to analyze the data, convert it to CSV for use in Microsoft Excel. For descript.ion files, convert to standard TXT or CSV to safely archive your file annotations.
Convert.Guru analyzes your ION file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted INO, PNG, ML, MRK, ASC and JSON files.
If you want to convert ION file to JSON, SYS, DLL, EXE, DRV, VXD, 386, COM, BAT, CMD, SCR or PIF, you can use Amazon Ion CLI or similar software from the "Data Serialization and File Metadata" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MSI, EXE, REG, MST, LNK, CAB, CAT, DRV, INF, SYS, MSU or DLL files to ION, try Amazon Ion CLI or another comparable tool in the "Data Serialization and File Metadata" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our ION converter.